


Crushed by Karma

by JazzGirl123



Series: ChloNathWeek2K17 [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-11-13 14:27:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11187024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JazzGirl123/pseuds/JazzGirl123
Summary: Day II: Honey/Tomato“Look at me, I’m Nathanaël,” she remarked, rolling the tomato in her hand. “I like doodling in class and wearing ridiculous clothes. I wanna stay in the shadows, unnoticed, even though my hair may as well be a freakin’ neon sign.”She pierced the tomato with her nail, not even caring anymore; she was already a mess, so what was one more stain?





	Crushed by Karma

**Author's Note:**

> This really ended up being more Chloe-centric than anything else, but hey. It's still in there.

Out of all the ways they could punish her, they chose to give her kitchen duty. 

Well, alright, she was _cleaning_ the home ec. kitchen but still. 

Chloe Bourgeois, cleaning up after someone? Ugh. Cleaning up after the underclassmen? Double ugh.

“I don’t remember our class being this messy,” she remarked, face screwing up in disgust as she examined the counters. “They were just making _salsa_.”

They even called in Sabrina to tutor some kids so she couldn’t come clean up in place of Chloe. Well, she would give them credit for getting smarter after all these years. As much as Sabrina adored her best friend, she would never risk her perfect student reputation. 

Chloe picked up a rag with her fingernails, holding it as far away from her face as possible.

“Utterly disgusting. Me, cleaning?” She dropped the rag onto the counter. “They didn’t even give me gloves.”

She could wait until Sabrina was finished tutoring, but she got the feeling the teachers wouldn’t let her leave until Chloe was done. And Chloe was not going to be in the school after dark; she had more important things to do.

“It’s….a mission,” she told herself as she clutched the rag, making sure her hand didn’t touch anything on the counter. “Like at the mall. Pretend I’m reaching out to snatch the purse before that fake brunette.”

She nodded and took a deep breath before she began to scrub hard against the counter. Diced tomatoes and onions fell to the floor, and she groaned when she felt some of it fall on her shoes. Get it done, get it done, get it done.

She hated doing hard work. She hated doing _any_ work. 

But she loved getting what she wanted, and right now? She wanted to get this over with. 

So forty-five minutes later, Chloe stood in a gleaming kitchen, hands on her hips and a smug look on her face. Her jacket had been thrown on the back of a chair, her hair a mess and clothes stained mostly red now. 

“I’m done,” she declared, tipping her head back slightly and sighing in relief. “Disgusting.”

Totally disgusting, but...oddly satisfying now that she was looking at the product of her hard work. 

“I’m never doing that again,” she murmured as she went to the fridge. “At least it wasn’t chili. Never getting these tomato stains out of my clothes though.”

Chloe took out a bottle of water, not even caring that it wasn’t her preferred brand, and took a long sip. As she did, she caught sight of the unused tomatoes. Intrigued, she pulled one of them out and examined it as she made her way back to the counter.

“You. You’re the culprit, staining my clothes,” she remarked, leaning against the counter. She rolled the plump fruit in her hand. Or was it a vegetable? “Do you even know how much these cost? More than a million of you, that’s for sure.”

Nothing should naturally be this red, no matter how vibrant. Honestly, the only other thing this red was the local artist.

“Look at me, I’m Nathanaël,” she remarked, rolling the tomato in her hand. “I like doodling in class and wearing ridiculous clothes. I wanna stay in the shadows, unnoticed, even though my hair may as well be a freakin’ neon sign.”

She pierced the tomato with her nail, not even caring anymore; she was already a mess, so what was one more stain?

“I acted happy for the girl I love when she started dating someone, but it was really obvious I was heartbroken. I told my friends I’d draw stuff for them even though I really need the commission money. I say it’s fine when people go out without me, but I never have a group to belong in.”

Her nail dug in harder, red juice dribbling down her hand.

“I pretend nothing gets to me because a mean girl humiliated me a few years ago. They can’t laugh if I give them nothing to laugh at.”

She was up to her knuckle in the tomato now. Her other nails joined in, and there was an odd feeling of joy as she crushed the fruit in her hand. 

“I completely hate that girl. She’s mean and spoiled and never wants to get her hands dirty. She doesn’t say anything unless it’s hurtful, and she never apologizes for it. She’s not even that smart anyways; she has to get someone else to do her homework for her or she’ll flunk out of school. She’s nothing but a prissy princess who relies on her daddy for everything, and is oblivious to the people who hate her because of it even though she can’t control what she’s born into. She’s incapable of loving anyone but herself.”

She was going to have to clean the counter again. 

“Except I have no idea how wrong that last one is.”

The tomato fell from her hands, her nails meeting her palm, and she flinched from the pain. 

“Ow…” murmured Chloe, rubbing her fingers over the crescent-shaped imprint. “It’s all your fault!” She glared at the ruined tomato on the counter.

It sat there, destroyed. It looked nothing like plump and bright fruit from before; instead, it was something ugly and it couldn’t be fixed. It could be made into something else, but it could never go back to the way it was before.

She had done that. 

Her eyes felt hot and prickly, and with a start, she realized she was crying. _Her_. Perhaps it was karma for all the people _she_ had made cry over the years.

Chloe stared at the mess, unmoving. She cleaned up after everyone else, so someone should clean up after her, right? 

She just wanted to go home and take a long shower. That was why she had done all of this; to get what she wanted.

But even though she had done all this good, forced or not, she had still hurt something. Even worse, she had hurt herself. With the truth, of all things.

It was a shriek from outside, some kids from the baseball team, that made her jolt back to reality. She was going to be late, and her dad was going to worry. Not to mention, she had to go get Sabrina.

Chloe grabbed as much of the tomato as she could, tossing it in the trash, and cleaned up the counter. She didn’t bother with her hands. 

“Definitely a hot shower tonight,” she murmured, pulling her phone out. By instinct, she pulled up the camera to check herself out, and she instantly grimaced.

She looked terrible, the messiest Chloe Bourgeois had ever been, and she would die if anyone saw her like this. This was her reward for cleaning, for doing something good?

Her reflection grimaced at her, eyes full of judgement. 

But then she caught sight of the rest of the kitchen, how spotless and untouched it was. It looked good as new, really. Not bad considering she had no idea what she was doing.

She had done that. 

The feeling of odd satisfaction returned, and she looked back at her reflection.

“Look at me,” she said softly. “I’m Chloe Bourgeois. I’m spoiled and mean, and I make others miserable. I’m a prissy princess, incapable of loving others.”

She licked some of the tomato juice off her hand. 

“Well, _mostly_.”

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: this was meant to be funny, but oopsie-daisies.


End file.
